"Sifting through the first-ever rock samples collected from the far side of the Moon, scientists in China have unearthed a surprise: fragments of a rare type of meteorite that could help to piece together the Solar System's history. The debris scooped up by China's Chang'e-6 mission and returned to Earth in June last year resembles material from asteroids that carry dust pre-dating the Solar System."
"Most missions that have returned rocks from the Moon have sampled the surface facing Earth — the near side — which has fewer craters and has hosted greater volcanic activity. Chang'e-6, however, landed on the far side, at the Moon's largest, deepest crater — the South Pole–Aitken Basin, which accounts for about one-quarter of the Moon's surface area. One of the main objectives was to better understand why the far side looks so different from the near side."
Chang'e-6 returned the first rock samples from the Moon's far side and recovered rare olivine-bearing meteorite fragments. The fragments resemble material from asteroids that carry dust pre-dating the Solar System and could illuminate how asteroids delivered volatiles, including water, to planetary bodies. Chang'e-6 landed in the South Pole–Aitken Basin, a vast crater formed about four billion years ago and likely rich in impact debris. Primary objectives included understanding far-side differences from the near side and probing basin formation, while the discovery of asteroidal fragments provides unexpected insight into Solar System history.
Read at www.nature.com
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